Saturday, June 10, 2017

1. Fresh flowers. I try to buy them as often as I can when I know I'll be home to enjoy them. My rule of thumb, under $10. Mostly thanks to Trader Joe's :)

2. Reading. Actual books. It has been awhile, but with summer upon us, I've been making more time to sit and read. My current faves.

3. The love of a doggy. Our sweet Puddles went to heaven two weeks ago. It happened suddenly. Her heart was literally too big. Oh, I miss her so. And so does Pa and Bailey. But we were blessed with that sweet girl for 12 years. I never, ever, ever thought I was a dog person until these sweet doggies entered my life. I'm misty-eyed now just thinking about how she was always the first to greet me at the door (Bailey is a bit too, um...lazy, dare I say?! ha.). You guys were awesome with your love and prayers on IG and FB. Thank you. But, dear Puddy filled this blog with her sweet little eyelashes and tongue, so I had to share a few more pics. My heart.

When my fabulous friend, knitter, model, and graphic designer, Knitterella shared her picture of her finished Chugach this week, I thought, heck let's have a sale! So grab the pattern now for $3 til tomorrow night! Jill is such a talented designer, I have to say I'm honored and flattered that she still enjoys knitting my patterns once in awhile :)

And Sarah of the Plucky Knitter shared the sneak peek of her June Classics in my Steward Hat pattern so I couldn't help but put that on sale for the month of June too! I'm so blessed to be part of this awesome, support knitting community!! Sarah is celebrating her 10-year anniversary sale this weekend so grab a skein and cast on!

5. Quiet. I'm craving it so much lately. The peace and quiet and solitude. Whether it is the quiet of my morning swims, the silence of my mind while I'm journaling, or meditating or praying, I find myself anxious if I don't get enough of it during the day. I've been listening to Shauna Niequist's Present over Perfect (LOVE!) and here are a few quotes that I just loved from the book. So many.

Here are the details everyone...March 17-18BOGO Free! with the coupon code: LUCKYBuy one pattern, get one free (lesser priced pattern will be free; Merrily and Sleepy Hollow Collections included, but other ebook collections excluded)!

Discount can be used more than once, but patterns must be bought in multiples of 2 (e.g., 2, 4, 6…). Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Feel free to share this info with your friends or any appropriate groups on Ravelry. The more the merrier!

There's been just a bit of knitting around here.....

I hope to finish this hat...someday.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll definitely be celebrating.
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

Sunday, February 12, 2017

And just like that, February, or birthday month as we like to call it around here, is almost half way over. Here's a bit of what is happening...

{finishing}

Another version of Magpie's 1st birthday sweater, this time a smaller version. A new design coming sometime this year. Funny, going back to read that old post, I knit Magpie's larger version in less than a week. This one was started when Blue-eyed princess was born, and she's already 16 months old?!?!

{knitting}

Those fingerless gloves flew off the needles. I just started those last week. Knitting mojo is definitely back. I could have finished them last weekend, but I forced myself to put them down and do some much needed work that needed to be done.

{watching}

A bit of fluff but it pairs well with knitting. And I'm just so glad Reyna, Scarlette, and Juliette are back. And I can't wait for Juliette to sing some gospel. Go girl.

{listening to}

Duh. It happens. I can't help it. Not this song in particular, just the Nashville songs that I may or may not have downloaded over the years. Or the Pandora Nashville cast radio station. Yep. That's a thing too. My music tastes are just about as eclectic as me.

{discovering}

For some reason, yesterday morning I decided to change my routine and go for a walk instead of to the gym. Maybe it was because it had finally stopped raining. Or perhaps I just wanted to do something different for my birthday. I do know that that was the best decision I made yesterday and it set my day off just right. I wandered down a street of houses and decided to walk a certain time one way and then turn back, going somewhere I hadn't driven or gone before. I ended up discovering this beautiful walking trail, practically right around the corner. The light was beautiful. The clouds were breathtaking. When my grandma and great-aunts moved to Reno, they used to always comment on the clouds and say how different they looked up there. As if you were closer to them. I loved how they were guaranteed to comment on their beauty, but I didn't necessarily think they looked different than in San Francisco. I find myself commenting on the clouds and sky here too, though. Yesterday I felt their presence, my grandma and great-aunts. A birthday blessing. I realized that perhaps it isn't the clouds that are different...it's our eyes. My eyes. When you have a certain sense of peace, you do see things differently. I realized that yesterday for the first time on my walk.

{anticipating}

Another new design. Grace Now. Coming soon.

{celebrating}

As is our tradition, the birthday sale is in full swing for the rest of the month! Enjoy 20% off all IGK patterns through the end of the month, including any new ones I release...I'm hoping at least one!

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Definitely one of those weeks where daily I tried to find the good things. Here are just a few as I look back over my week.

1. OMG. Want. All of these. Seriously. The one that caught my attention originally was 'Unfriended a Racist' but other faves include 'Stopped Caring About Bullshit,' ' I could cover my Field bag in them.

Yep. That's unfinished Christmas knitting. Oh well. It happens to the best of us.

3. And I was pretty proud to be part of the knitting community last weekend. I was there in spirit. I was working with an awesome team of women that morning and we shared our own stories... our own mini-march of sorts, since we couldn't be there. Four American women. Diverse and similar our small group was- Christian, Muslim, mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, people of color, white, affected by autoimmune disease, cancer, autism....And that's just what little we know about each other. We don't know everyone's complete story. When one of the women talked about the pink pussyhats, I was so honored to share pictures of you guys on IG and explain more about it. Whether or not you agree with the movement, it is still an awesome thing to see the power of knitters. Kay Gardiner summed it up perfectly I think.

4. Knitted Wit's new colorway, Be Mine, where 10% of the sales of this colorway will forever go to Planned Parenthood.

Photo courtesy of Knitted Wit, colorway Be Mine

5. Knitting sure does soothe the soul. I'm so glad I've found my needles again after such a hard year last year. This morning I knit a bit while I was watching church on Facebook. Yep. That's a thing now. I try to get home to Church every other weekend. I love my Love Center Church family and am so blessed to have found a church family, and then I moved. I'm sure there are lovely churches here, but I'm just not ready yet having just found a church family I love. It is such a welcoming, non-denominational church, if you happen to live in the Oakland/Bay Area community, with an amazing music ministry too (you can check out some of the services/music on periscope).

I also took it to my mani/pedi this afternoon, part of my self-care routine these past few months.

6. Yes, that is sparkly gold nail polish. Not my typical go-to color, but kinda goes with one of my anthems this month.

Now if that isn't bubblegum pop, I don't know what is. I don't even know who Britt Nicole is. Little Snowboarder must have downloaded this song on my phone way back when. I added it to my workout playlist this January since it was peppy. But damn. Those lyrics got to me.

You're one in a million. This, this is for all the girlsBoys all over the worldWhatever you've been toldYou're worth more than goldSo hold your head up highIt's your time to shineFrom the inside out it showsYou're worth more than goldYou're worth more than gold.

We are enough and so worth it. But I think sometimes we women need to hear this message a little bit more, and definitely more from each other. So sure, sparkly gold nail polish today :) Shine.

I wanted to share better photos of the one I knit with speckled Plucky yarn and a contrast brim, but unfortunately this is the best I can do. With the crazy rain we had a week ago, my hat went missing somewhere. Hopefully, someone is wearing it and giving it lots of love. One can hope.

It is on sale for a few more days if you haven't had a chance to purchase it.

11. Daily gratitude list in my bullet journal, which I love by the way. This daily act of remembering all I have to be grateful for has been helpful in so many ways.

11. Candle light. I've found this simple act of lighting a candle calming these past few weeks, especially amongst such chaos. Focusing on the positive, the light, instead of the darkness. A daily act, similar to the gratitude list, that is making it easier to focus.

It prompted me to find a few of my favorite light/dark quotes to share with you guys, in case you needed a bit of inspiration for the week ahead.

Knitting this hat healed my heart a bit. I just didn't realize it at the time. I knit this hat over and over and over last year. It was probably the only thing I knit for months. The name came to me one night at bible study when my Pastor spoke about stewardship and that we needed to be good stewards of the gifts God had given us. I could knit. And knit I did.

Six times to be exact. The only thing I could knit because I had lost my knitting motivation. You know its bad when you're not doing the things you love to do. This was just easy enough to knit a row here or there.

And I thought things were better. I was knitting again. Being diagnosed with cancer twice and the pain and fear that comes with that would not beat me. But I could not get the pattern written down. I was stuck. For months.

That's where the journey of this design really healed my heart a bit. Realizing I needed to let a lot go has cleared my mind of so much lately. In that act of letting go, surrendering if you will, I was able to write this pattern. Something that I struggled with (let's be clear guys, it's an easy 2-page pattern!) for months became so easy all of a sudden.

That is an entirely different type of gift. One I'm learning to be grateful for daily.

I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Knitting!
xoxo Irishgirlieknits

P.S. The pattern is on sale for $5 through the end of January, but you can get an extra 20% off this pattern and any other IGK pattern ($6 or less) with the coupon code: GIFTS through Sunday, 1/22/17.